Travel Stories
Key Largo – Scuba, Sunsets, and More
Photos by Hugh Hudson
Shallow reefs, deep and shallow wrecks, sanctuary protected marine life and year round diving. Okay, no shore diving to speak of, but there are plenty of good reasons that Key Largo is a popular destination for divers from across the country and around the world. It is ideal for beginners with reefs that are 30-40 feet in depth and advanced and technical divers can explore deeper wrecks like the 510-foot USS Spiegel Grove to the extent that their training allows.
Key Largo – known outside the dive community for the classic Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall film (not to mention the later song by Bertie Higgins) – is the first populated town as you leave the Florida mainland peninsula and make your way south to Key West and the southernmost point in the United States. Key Largo is also home to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, the first underwater park established in the U.S., and the iconic, much-photographed Christ of the Abyss statue sits in only 25 feet of water at a site called Dry Rocks. It is, however, the sheer multitude of dive sites and dive operations that makes Key Largo a favored spot. If you want extra details about the geological underpinning of Key Largo’s diving, check out http://www.fla-keys.com/keylargo/keylargodivewonderland.cfm, but for the sake of this post, let’s focus on the more than 50 regularly visited sites that are available within a 40-minute boat ride. With the third largest barrier reef in the world, the sites are a mix of natural reefs and numerous genuine wrecks in scattered debris fields as well as ships deployed as artificial reefs. The older, genuine wrecks have little structure remaining as is to be expected in warm salt water, but they provide great habitats for creatures large and small.
Everyone loves the turtles that live on Key Largo reefs
While you do not, in general, have the profusion of colorful corals and sponges of many places in the Caribbean, abundant and healthy marine life is to be seen within moments of slipping underwater. “The usual suspects” will be multiple varieties of snapper, parrotfish (including the beautiful midnight variety), barracuda, angelfish, butterfly fish, trumpetfish, grunts, hog fish, file fish, lizardfish, squirrelfish, trunkfish, damselfish, eels, southern stingrays, turtles, nurse sharks, groupers, (including goliaths), sea cucumbers, shrimp, and lobsters. A hundred other species could be named and seeing dolphins on the ride to or from the sites is not unusual, nor is the appearance of manatees in the canals. Snapper Ledge gets its name from the fact that schools of fish are often so dense that they obscure sections of the reef. For those who happen to be in the water at the right time and location, there are occasional visits from a cruising hammerhead, a manta ray, or even a whale shark, and technical divers who go to the really deep wrecks such as the Northern Lights will often encounter bull sharks.
The growth on the USS Spiegel Grove, the 510-foot ship off Key Largo can be seen as this scrawled file fish swims by
Although the reliability of Key Largo weather can be impacted by either storms or systems that bring in high winds and the water temperature does drop to around 70 degrees in the winter months, charters go out every day of the year, conditions permitting. Granted, there is an element of amusement when locals hesitate to dive with air and in water with a temperature in the low 70s, while visitors escaping snow and ice are happy with the balmy weather. However, when it is chilly, appropriate protection with layering is in order for the boat ride. March through mid-May usually brings air temperature in the 80s and the water moving up to 75+ degrees, and by the end of May through late September, hot is the word. Hats, sunscreen, and hydration are all important. October is a toss-up with heat that usually comes down in November.
Visibility and currents on the deep wrecks will often vary more than on the reefs and a normal day for the reefs will be 50-60 feet of visibility and mild current, with frequent days of 70-100 feet. For those who appreciate technology, there is a NOAA tower mounted at Molasses Reef and you can access it for the latest conditions. (http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=mlrf1)
Choosing among approximately two dozen dive centers in Key Largo might be the difficult part, and that very much becomes a personal choice. Some shops specialize in a maximum of six passengers, others have the 14 passenger boats, and several operators have the large boats that carry between 30 and 42 passengers. The larger operators may have two different size boats that can be a factor if traveling with a group of mixed levels. Many of the dive shops have their own dock and others have a storefront with their boat at a nearby marina. There are resorts that have the complete package of lodging, on-site dive center, and restaurant. Individual dive centers may well have discount arrangements with hotel and restaurants, so check that when you either call a dive shop or look at a web site.
Southern stingrays are seen more commonly on the reefs, than are eagle and lemon rays
There are three particular things to know about dive centers in Key Largo. The first is a regional Coast Guard requirement for a mate to remain on board with the captain any time there are more than six customers. This means that unlike in most other places, dive centers, in general, do not put a dive master into the water with divers because that would mean having two dive masters per trip which would then increase the per dive cost. Some dive centers have chosen to either absorb that cost or pass it on, but if you want a guide, you will need to ask the direct question. Hiring a guide will be an additional charge and also leads to the next item. The scuba community standard policy is that if a diver has not been in the water for a year, the shop could very well require the diver to have a guide for the first trip and this will be an additional cost. If it has been two or more years since last diving there may be a need for a refresher course. The third item is for those who wish to dive the deep wrecks of the Bibb, Duane, and USS Spiegel Grove. These are advanced dives with the community standard of showing proof of advanced certification, documented wreck and deep experience, or to be in the company of a guide in order to do the dive. Even though you can dive a small part of the Spiegel at approximately 65 feet, most of the ship is at 80 feet or below and current can be challenging. Descending onto the 510-foot long ship is an awesome experience, but it is not for novices. While the Bibb and Duane are not as large, they are older artificial reefs with significant marine growth.
Porcupine puffers are camera shy, but seen fairly often on the reefs
For planning purposes, Key Largo is a little over an hour from Miami International Airport during non-peak traffic time and Fort Lauderdale Airport is twenty minutes further north. The Florida Turnpike (toll road) is the most direct route and it ends in Florida City/Homestead as you pick up Highway 1 South, also known as the Overseas Highway. This is a two-lane road with only a couple of passing zones, so relax and watch for egrets, ospreys, herons, and other water fowl along the way.
Once you arrive in Key Largo, local directions tend to be given as Ocean Side or Bay Side and by Mile Marker rather than using street names. As you drive south, the Atlantic Ocean is to your left (east) and Florida Bay to your right (west). The sunset restaurants are bay-side, but the dive sites are ocean-side and therefore about ten minutes less of a boat ride if the dive center you choose is located ocean-side.
Rubble around the reefs are favorite habitats for yellow head jawfish
If there is one thing that rivals the number of dive centers in Key Largo, that would be restaurants and bars. As you can imagine, there is a lot of outdoor dining, and casual is most assuredly the preferred attire. Claims to have the best conch fritters and key lime pie abound and while American cuisine and fresh seafood are what you find the most, you can get Italian, Mexican, Thai, and one or two others. Hog fish and lion fish might be on the menu – both are firm white fish that you won’t find offered in too many places and both are highly recommended.
Adult Goliath Grouper on Key Largo reef. (All photos from Hugh Hudson)
For your non-diving days, or if you have non-divers with you, other watersports are plentiful and the Wild Bird Center is a fun place to visit. A short trip south will take you to the Theater of the Sea or to the History of Diving Museum with its rich displays of 4,000 years of man’s attempts to temporarily exist beneath the waves. A short trip back north to Florida City and Homestead puts you at the doorstep of the Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, the Coral Castle, and the Monkey Jungle. In fact, if hotel rooms are hard to find in Key Largo, Florida City and Homestead provide an easy alternative. If you want to take the Overseas Highway all the way south passing through Islamorada, Marathon, over the much-filmed Seven Mile Bridge and arriving in Key West, plan a full two hours. The scenic two-lane road has few places to pass.
Schools of fish such as these grunts are a common sight on reefs
Warm breezes, palm fronds rustling, tropical blossoms, parrots that streak overhead top side, with teeming marine life below. This is the Key Largo that you may not have visited for a while, or perhaps have never come to. It is a slice of paradise right here in the United States, and for those 300-plus days a year when Mother Nature isn’t being capricious, a healthy underwater world with the tiniest shrimp up to 600-pound goliath groupers awaits you.
An excellent web site for more information is http://www.fla-keys.com/keylargo
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
The second day’s diving was a day full of wreck diving at Abu Nuhas, which included the Chrisoula K, Carnatic, and Ghiannis D. The first dive of the day was onto the Chrisoula K, also known as the wreck of tiles. The 98m vessel remains largely intact where she was loaded with tiles which can be seen throughout the hold. The stern sits at 26m and the bow just below the surface. One of the highlights of the wreck is heading inside and seeing the workroom where the machinery used for cutting the tiles are perfectly intact. The bow provided some relaxing scenery as the bright sunlight highlighted the colours of the soft coral reef and the many reef fish.
Following breakfast, we then headed to the next wreck, which was the Carnatic. The Carnatic is an 89.9m sail steamer vessel that was built in Britain back in 1862. She ran aground on the reef back in 1869 and remains at 27m. At the time, she was carrying a range of items, including 40,000 sterling in gold. An impressive wreck where much of the superstructure remains, and the two large masts lay on the seafloor. The wooden ribs of the hull provide structures for lots of soft corals, and into the stern section, the light beams through, bouncing off the large shoals of glass fish that can be found using the structure as shelter from the larger predators that are found outside of the wreck.
The final wreck at Abu Nuhas was the Ghiannis D, originally called ‘Shoyo Maru,’ which was 99.5m long and built in Japan back in 1969 before becoming a Greek-registered cargo ship in 1980. The ship then ran aground on the reef on April 19th, 1983, and now sits at the bottom at a depth of 27m. Heading down the line, the stern of the ship remains in good condition compared to the rest of the hull. The highlight of the wreck, though, is heading into the stern section and down the flights of stairs to enter the engine room, which remains in good condition and is definitely worth exploring. After exploring the interior section of the ship, we then headed over to see the rest of the superstructure, where it’s particularly interesting to see the large table corals that have grown at the bow relatively quickly considering the date the ship sank. After surfacing and enjoying some afternoon snacks, we made sure everything was strapped down and secured as we would be heading north and crossing the Gulf of Suez, where the winds were still creating plenty of chop.
The next morning, it was a short hop to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve for the next couple of days of diving. The 6am wake-up call came along with the briefing for the first site we would be diving, which was Shark & Yolanda. The low current conditions allowed us to start the dive at Anemone City, where we would drift along the steep, coral-filled wall. These dives involved drifts, as mooring in Ras Mohammed wasn’t allowed to protect the reefs. As a dive site, Shark & Yolanda is well-known and historically had a lot of sharks, but unfortunately not so many in recent years, especially not so early in the season. However, there was always a chance when looking out into the blue.
The gentle drift took us along the steep walls of the site, with plenty of anemone fish to be seen and a huge variety of corals. It wasn’t long into the dive before we were accompanied by a hawksbill turtle, who drifted with us between the two atolls before parting ways. Between the two reefs, the shallow patch with parts of coral heads surrounded by sand provided the chance to see a few blue-spotted stingrays that were mainly resting underneath the corals and are always a pleasure to see. With this being the morning dive, the early sunlight lit up the walls, providing tranquil moments. Looking out into the blue, there was very little to be seen, but a small shoal of batfish shimmering underneath the sunlight was a moment to capture as we watched them swim by as they watched us.
Towards the end of the dive, we stopped at the wreck of the Jolanda where the seafloor was scattered with toilets from the containers it was carrying. This provided a unique site to make a safety stop, which was also accompanied by a large barracuda slowly swimming by, along with a hawksbill turtle calmly swimming over the reef as the sun rays danced in the distance.
For the next dive, we headed north to the Strait of Tiran to explore the reefs situated between Tiran Island and Sharm El Sheik, which were named after the British divers who had found them. We started on Jackson before heading to Gordons Reef, where we also did the night dive. All the atolls at these sites provided stunning, bustling coral reefs close to the surface and steep walls to swim along, which always provided the opportunity to keep an eye out for some of the larger species that can be seen in the blue. Midwater around Jackson Reef was filled with red-toothed triggerfish and shoals of banner fish, which at times were so dense that you couldn’t see into the blue. Moments went by peacefully as we enjoyed the slow drift above the reef, watching these shoals swim around under the mid-afternoon sun.
The night dive at Gordon’s Reef was mainly among the stacks of corals surrounded by sand, which was great to explore under the darkness. After some time circling the corals, we came across what we were really hoping to find, and that was an octopus hunting on the reef. We spent the majority of the dive just watching it crawl among the reef, blending into its changing surroundings through changes in colour and skin texture. It’s always so fascinating and captivating to watch these incredibly intelligent animals, in awe of their ability to carry out these physical changes to perfectly blend into the reef. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to enjoy a well-deserved tasty dinner prepared by the talented chefs onboard.
Check in for the 3rd and final part of this series from Jake tomorrow!
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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